Wedding Photographer | Real Photography

wedding photographer | denver | st. dominic's church and lombardi's roman garden | belinda and justin

Nov 29, 2008

Belinda and Justin were married last weekend at St Dominic’s Church in Denver. They are an adorable couple and it was an honor to photograph their day!

Belinda is one of the most genuinely sweet people I’ve ever met in my life. And so I forgive her for being so crazy beautiful!

wedding photographer denver colorado

I couldn’t resist an ivy background!

wedding photographer denver colorado

Yep. Belinda is way too pretty!

wedding photographer denver colorado

Nic’s shot, and my favorite from the ceremony. I bow down to him.

denver wedding photographers

My favorite “We did it!” face of the year. Which is a good way to end because this is our last wedding of 2008!

wedding photographers denver

The dove release after the ceremony…

wedding photographer denver dove release

Belinda’s son, Aidan, is such an adorable little boy! He was so well behaved for us.

wedding photographer denver

We had some beautiful afternoon light. The kind of light that we just don’t get in most areas of Colorado Springs because the mountains get in the way!

wedding photographer denver colorado

Time for some back alley kisses. I’m pretty sure photographers end up spending almost as much time in back alleys as muggers.

wedding photographer denver

We had an awesome amount of time between the ceremony and reception for photos, so we played around for a long time and then released them to the limo party…

wedding photographer

My favorite reception shots are almost always from the first dance. Nic really rocked this one!

wedding photography denver colorado

The mother-son dance always gets me thinking about the future. (Although I’m pretty sure I’ll run off any of Will’s prospective brides. Because No One will be good enough.) :P

denver wedding photographer

Belinda’s father passed away, so her uncle stood in for him on the father-daughter dance and they danced to There You’ll Be (that song from Pearl Harbor) and I cried like a baby. So much so that Nic was prompted to look at me and ask “Have you been drinking?!” (But since this was his shot, I know he was feeling it too.) It was so moving it was totally “two glasses of wine” or “six months pregnant” pain-in-your-chest emotion. I can’t even proof these without tearing up.

wedding photographer

Before I start crying all over the place again, I’m going to end with my favorite picture of the day. A little something I like to call “the magic of the D3.” Or just “a really cool bridal bouquet toss picture.” Belinda has the cutest expressions!

wedding photographer denver colorado

Thanks, Belinda and Justin, for letting us photograph your day. You were so easy and fun to work with, so gracious, and so welcoming. We hope you have a wonderful mini-moon in Vail and fantastic forever together!

Posted in Wedding Photographer

denver wedding photographer | meg and matt | trinity methodist church and the curtis hotel

Oct 31, 2008

Get ready for lots of pictures in this sneak peek of Meg and Matt’s fantastic wedding! (I’m pretty sure this is the longest sneak peek ever.) When I went to check how many pictures I’d flagged for blogging, I saw 80! Ooops! I tried to cut it down, but as you can see, I pretty much failed.

Getting ready at The Curtis Hotel.

wedding photographers denver curtis hotel

denver wedding photographer

Look at that ring bearer pillow! (It’s modeled after an Eat’n Park cookie) Meg had the most fantastic shoes and orange petticoat!

denver wedding photographer

At Trinity Methodist Church (the oldest church in Denver) they had a beautiful antique mirror.

Matt getting ready. He has the best laugh!

The ceremony was stunning. Trinity Methodist Church is simply gorgeous!

trinity methodist church wedding photographer

denver wedding photographer trinity methodist church

Nic was up in the balcony and I was down on the main floor. It’s so nice to be able to take two different levels to get different angles! Here’s the same scene from both of us. Nic’s is on the left, mine on the right.

denver wedding trinity methodist church photos

More from the ceremony because I can’t help myself…

trinity methodist church denver colorado wedding photographers

We don’t normally spend much time on individual portraits on the wedding day, but since we had less than an hour until sunset after the ceremony, Meg and Matt wanted to do some creative individual portraits before the ceremony when we would have plenty of time and light. I’m so glad they did!

denver colorado wedding photographer

Check out Meg’s incredible birdcage veil! I have a dozen variations of this shot that I adore!

Another shot of Meg being adorable:

wedding photographer bridal portrait

Matt’s turn to work it!

The bridal party with some fun yellow stairs:

denver colorado wedding photographer

This shot cracks me up. I was concentrating so hard on all of the traffic and timing of the shot that I didn’t realize the ring bearer had gotten in on the action until I was proofing!

denver wedding photographer

Meg and Matt’s family were complete rock stars, and we powered through family portraits and bridal party shots with enough time to do some couple shots before we lost all light!

My photographer possee knows Meg and Matt collectively as “the balloon shot couple” because of this portrait from their engagement shoot:

So it was only fitting to have a little balloon action on the wedding day! Here comes my shot…

denver wedding photographer

And Nic’s versions…

denver wedding photographer

I am a big fan of spots that allow a couple to stand in a single place and then the photographer moves around for tons of variety. These two are a great example of that. In both shots Meg and Matt were standing against the church pillars. I just moved to first get an architectural shot and then a fun urban background:

denver wedding photographer trinity methodist church

denver wedding photographer

trinity methodist church denver wedding photographer

Meg and Matt had a hundred different fantastic touches at the reception. Here’s a glance at some of them…

denver wedding photographers the curtis hotel

I have been wanting to do a cocktail/ring shot forever. We played around with several compositions (and garnishes) but this one is my favorite:

wedding photographer

The grand entrance (with balloons of course)!

denver wedding photography curtis hotel

Two different shots of the first dance:

wedding photography curtis hotel denver colorado

denver wedding photographer

I like kids a lot. Mainly because they are one of the few groups that you can take pictures of as they lick the frosting off a cookie without them wanting to punch you.

denver wedding photographer

There was a LOT of kid cuteness going on at the reception. Matt’s nephew totally rocked out on the microphone. I have never seen such amazing rock star performing skills! He had the moves DOWN!

denver wedding photographer

Hug after the toasts…

denver wedding photographer

I have no idea what this was about…but it was hilarious:

And that’s it. I’m cutting myself off. Because I really could go on forever. Thanks for sharing your beautiful wedding with us, Meg and Matt!

***

Behind the scenes. (This post is ridiculously long already, but it really isn’t a wedding post without a few behind the scenes shots).

Sometimes I am part wedding photographer and part wedding coordinator. The boutonniere pinning wasn’t going so well, so I ended up doing a few boutonnieres. But I have crazy “camera pointed at me” radar, so I turned to see what Nic was doing just as he hit the shutter and this was how my face looked at that moment. Figures.

colorado springs weddding photographer

Nic rocking the bride and groom portraits…

denver wedding photographer

A hilarious outtake from family formals…

wedding photographer colorado springs

And what happens when you give two photographers a weird bathroom mirror. We end up shooting it. Nic went for the fun-house distortion. I went for the prettier capture…

Posted in Wedding Photographer

Denver Wedding Photographers | The Space Gallery | Carolyn and Jack

Oct 21, 2008

Carolyn and Jack tied the knot on Saturday at The Space Gallery in Denver. Their day had a million touches that made the event uniquely them. Carolyn’s job as an editor shone during the ceremony: she had selected the coolest group of poems and stories for the readings. It all made it that much more special! (And best of all [because you know how I am about food], the food was some of the best we’ve tasted. I still dreaming about it. YUMMY. I think I’m going to make the food pictures I shot my screensaver. And maybe frame them for my nightstand.)

Carolyn getting ready in her awesomely lilac bathroom (their house has all the best colors)!

wedding photographers colorado springs

Carolyn had collected the most perfect accessories for her aqua and lime wedding. A hoop skirt, a gorgeous hair accessory, and CHECK OUT THESE SHOES!!!

wedding photographers denver

Time for the dress…

wedding photographer denver

wedding photographers denver colorado

When everyone was ready, it was off to Wash Park for portraits! Here’s my absolute favorite from the day:

denver colorado wedding photographer

At The Space Gallery, Carolyn and Jack were married in a room decorated with Jack’s art! On one of their first dates (or maybe the first date) they visited an art gallery where the titles were in Spanish. They enjoyed making up their own titles for the pieces, so at the wedding, they put up pieces of paper so the guests could have a go at naming Jack’s silkscreened art pieces. What a fun way to incorporate that part of their history!

denver wedding photographer

During the ring ceremony, I was in a great spot to capture the traditional shots.

denver wedding photographer

Nic was up in the balcony and couldn’t get anything from that angle…so he got creative and shot a few of their shadows as they exchanged rings. How clever is he?!

wedding photographers denver

The kiss!

wedding photographers space gallery denver

In Colorado, a bride and groom can marry themselves without an officiant. The tricky part is figuring out how to sign the marriage license afterward!

wedding photographer denver

Our favorite florist, Dawn from Hillside Consultants, did flowers and centerpieces, so they were of course gorgeous! They included beautifully painted orchids.

denver wedding photographers

Carolyn’s nephew was one of the cutest and certainly best behaved toddlers I’ve ever seen at a wedding!

denver wedding photographers

Nic takes the best toast pictures. I always look forward to seeing what he’ll capture!

wedding photographer denver

Another of Nic’s great toast pictures: Carolyn’s dad.

wedding photographers denver

These guys were cracking me up as they played with a camera on the dance floor!

colorado springs wedding photographers

wedding photography colorado springs

A good night kiss…

denver wedding photographer

Carolyn and Jack, thanks so much for allowing us to be a part of your day. You were so easy to work with and we loved all of the personalized touches in your day! We hope you have a wonderful honeymoon!

***

Behind the scenes…

Can you spot Nic?

Glorious camera equipment dripping off every inch of me… :)

colorado wedding photographer

When we left the wedding, we joked with Carolyn and Jack that we hoped their car was okay. At the engagement shoot, their car window had been smashed. But we should have knocked on some wood while we were joking, because when we got back to my trusty Civic we discovered this!

Oh no! Window broken, glove box open…my best friend and life-saver: GPS Girl was gone. Bernadette had been helping out the wedding coordinator and was catching a ride home with us. Something I’m sure she regretted as we drove home on I-25 at midnight in October with no window! (Of course, my favorite moment was when I looked over and realized that we could have at least turned the car heat on!) Bernadette broke out her camera for a “we can’t feel our ears” photo. Laughing at the result kept us warm all the way home. :D

Posted in Wedding Photographer